Electric timing device.



J. T. DEIVIPSTER.

ELECTRIC TIMING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED mm. I913.

1,157,300 Patented Oct. 19,1915.

Witnesses: 4% 4% Jig W v by f His fittorneg Inventor:

John T. Dempster,

v lowing is a specification.

- hereto.

talities for controlling the .device is in no way UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN T. DEMPSTER, or

SCHENECTADY, NEVVYORK, ASSIGNOR r0 GENERAL ELECTRIC. COMPANY, A ooarona rron or NEW YORK.- I

nLncrrnio TIMING DEVICE.

all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, JOHN T. DEMrs'rnR, a subject of the'King of Great Britain, residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Timing Devices, of which the fol- My invention relates to electric timing devices, and particularly to, devices of thattype in which a predetermined act or series of acts of any desired character are set in operation by meansjof a-1;,ti me actuated mechanism." J

The objects of my'inv ntion are to gen- 'erally improve the construction of this type of apparatus and particularly to provide, in a device'of the character to which thisinvention relates, animproved and novel con-' struction of time actuatedpmechanism.,;.

A further object ofin'ventien is to provide a novel arrangement of instrumentime'actuated mechanism. The novel features which Ibelieve to be" characteristic of my invention .will be definitely indicated the claims appended' he features ofconstruc tion and the mode of operation will be understood by reference to the following descriptiom'taken in connection with ,the accompanyingv drawings which show the preferred embodiments of my invention, and in which: I Figure 1 is a perspective view of the novel time actuated mechanism employed in my improved electrictiming device, and Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view in perspective of one of the many applications of my timing device showing the arrangements of the electric circuits. I My invention is particularly adapted for use in connection with photograph printing machines, and I have, accordingly, in the accompanying drawings, illustrated such an application of the'in'vention. It will obviously be understood'that my electric timing 2 limited to this specific as will be readily seen, the

adapted to be used in connection with a great variety of apparatus wherein it-is desired to subject the performapplication for, timing device is 1 ance of an act or series of acts to the con- "trol'of a time actuated mechanism or to Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 3, 1913.

Patented Oct.19,1915. Serial 1103740984.

control the operation of a member Whose 55 movement is to be timed. Referring to the drawings,there is, shown a clock-work mechanism 5 of the ordinary construction mounted upon a supporting. base 6. The clock-work'mechanism isgo r 0 eratively connected to a driving member This member may be'a'jgear wheel or any suitable driving means forimpartingrotation to an actuator 8. 'The actuator 8 is mounted on a stud end of a pivoted lever 10. The armature 11 of an electromagnet 12 is secured .-to the other end of the lever'lO.

A pointer like member 113 is operatively secured'to the actuator 8, and in the appli- 9:

cation of my invention illustrated in the drawings the member 13 acts as the-movable member of a pair of contacts for controllin an electric circuit, as more'fully des cri he' 1 hereinafter. A spring 14 curedto the actuator normally tends to maintain these partsun an initial position, suoh initial position being determined by a stop 15 with which the upper end of the member 13 engages. An 3 ad ustable fixed contact member 16 is mounted in a post 17 secured to the supporting base 6. The member 16 is adapted .to

be positioned at any desired point on a suitable scale 18 by means of a kev shaft 19.- 5 The member 16 is also provided with a contact stud 20 which coeperates with a contactpin 21 on the member 13.

In Fig. 2 I have diagrammatically illustrated my invention applied to a photographic printing frame. A slide 22 is adapted to move in the usual manner in the guides 23 of the printing frame. The slide is provided with a lug 2a which engages the armature 25 of an electromagnet 26. The armature25 thus operates as a catch to hold the slide 22 in an elevated position. It will, of course, be understood that while the slide 22 is in an elevated position the sensitized paper within the printing frame is expose to a source of light. One terminal of the coil of theelectromagnet 26' is connected through lead 27 to the adjustable member 16, while the other terminal of the coil is connected" through lead 28 to the movable member 13.

The circuit of electromagnet 12 comprises the lead 28 and the lead 29, in which latter is located a circuit closer 30. This circuit shaft 9. secured vtonne- 2' is operatively' s'e- 7'5: 8 and member 13 movable contact is then raised until the-lug eed closer is arranged to be operated by the member whose movement is to be timed, which member in the illustration is the slide 22. The circuit closer 30 comprises a fixed a movable contact 32. V The 32 is secured to-the end of a contact 31 and pin 33. The pin 33 is in the path of movement of the slide 22, and when the latter is elevated so that the armature or catch 25 engages the lug 24 the contacts 31 and 32 will be brought into engagement, thereby completing the electric circuit of the coils of the electromagnet 12; P p

The operation of my electric timing de vice will be understood from the foregoing description.

The adjustable member 16 is moved tothe desired position on the scale 18 by means of the key shaft 19. The posit ioi1 of the member 16 will determine the length of time that the slide is elevatedand the sensitized paper exposed to light. The slide 22 the armature or catch 25. The circuit of the coils of the electromagnet 12 pleted through the closing of contact members 31 and'32. The energizing of electrol magnet. 12 causes its armature to be -at-' tracted, thus rocking the lever'10 and bringing the actuator 8 into operative engagement with the time actuated driving means. The movable contact member 13 then begins to sweep across the scale 18 toward the member 16 at a'uniforrn rate, and after the ex piration of the predetermined time as determined by the position of the adjustable member 16, contact 21 engages contact 20, therebycompleting' the circuit of the electromagnet 26. The armature 25 of the electromagnet is consequently Withdrawn from engagementwith the lug 24, and the slide rops by gravity and thus closes the printing frame. When the slide 22 drops the engagement of contacts 31 and 32 is broken, thus deenergizing the electromagnet 12. The lever 10 is thereby rocked by gravity, and the actuator-8 disconnected from engagement with the driving member 7 As soon as the engagementof the actuator with the driving member is discontinued, the spring 14 will return the actuator and the movable contactmember 13 to their initial positions. This cycle of operation is repeated by again raising the slide 22 so as to close the contacts 31 and 32.

In the drawings I have illustrated the actuator 8 as provided with a rubber tire 34 which is frictionally engaged by the finely toothed periphery of the driving member 7. It will, of course, be'understood that any or convenience in illustration I have ing.

' shown the slide of the printing frame as the movable member, the same result may obvi- 24 is caught byis thereby com-.

Ways, for example, the printing frame as a hole may bearranged to drop behind an opaque screen. I do not, therefore, desire to be limited to the specific construction shown in the drawings, but aim in the appended claims to cover all modifications which are Within the scope of my invention.

As previously noted, my invention is in no manner limited to the specific application illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings. I do not desire, therefore, application of my invention to the particular form of apparatus illustrated and described.

My invention is capable of being 'em- I ployed in any piece of apparatus wherein an electric time actuated mechanism or an electric timing device forms a part of such 1 apparatus, I

appended c'laims'to cover my invention and I accordingly aim in the broadly without reference to any specific type of apparatusin connection with which it. may be employed.

1 at I' claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

n electric timin device comprising iii-combination a mova le member, an electrio circuit including means for retaining said member in a desired position, a time actuated driving means, an'actuator adapted to be driven by said time-actuated driving means, circuitcontrolling means included in the electric, circuit of said electro-responsive means and operatively related to said actuator, means. tending to return said actuator to an initial position, electro-responsive means for placing said actuator in operative engagement with said driving means, and circuitelectroresponsive to be restricted in the I controlling means actuated by the movement of said member to its aforementioned retained position and operatively related to said last mentioned electro-responsive means for making and interrupting the operative engagement between said actuator and said means.

2. An electric time actuated mechanism comprising in combination, a time actuated driving means, an electric circuitincluding an electromagnet, an armature for said, electromagnet, a pivoted lever adapted to ,be rocked by said armature, an actuator carried by said lever and adapted to engage with said driving means,'means tending to return said actuator to an initial position, and means for controlling said electric aircuit.

3. An electric timing device comprising in combination, a member Whose movement is to be timed, an electric circuit including electro-responsive means for retaining said member in a desired position for a predetermined time, time actuated means for controlling said circuit, a second electric cirarmature,

cuit including electro-responsive means for controlling said time actuated means, and means cooperating with said member for controlling said second electric circuit.

4:- An electric timing device comprising in combination, a member whose movement is to be timed, an electric circuit including electro-responsive meansfor retaining said member in a desired position for a predetermined time, a fixed contact and a movable contact in said circuit, a time actuated driving means, an actuator adapted to be driven by said driving means and operatively connected to said movable contact, a second electric circuit including electro-responsive means for placing said actuator in operative engagement with said driving means, contacts in said second circuit, and means con trolled by said member for operating said last mentioned contacts.

5. An electric timing'device comprising in combination, a time actuated driving means, an electric circuit including an electro-magnet, an armature for said electro-magnet, a

pivoted lever adapted to be rocked by said an actuator carried by said lever and adapted to engage With said driving means, means tending to return said actutor to an initial position, a fixed contact and a movable contact in said circuit, said movable contact being operated by said tuated driving member,

eluding electro-responsive means for placing said actuator in operative engagement with said driving means and for disconnecting such engagement when said movable contact engages said fixed contact.

6. An electric timing device comprising in combination, a member Whose movement is to be timed, an electric circuit including an electromagnet, an -armature for said electromagnet adapted to retain said member in a predetermined position, a time aca pivotally mounted actuator adapted to be driven by said driving member, a second electric circuit including an electromagnet adapted to move said actuator into and out of engagement with said driving member, a fixed contact and a movable contact included in said first mentioned electric circuit, said movable contact being driven by said actuatorfand contacts for controlling said second mentioned electric circuit and adapted to be closed by said first mentioned member when the latter is in said predetermined position.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 2nd day ofJanuary, 1913 JOHN T; DEMPSTER. Witnesses:

' BENJAMIN B. HULL,

- MARGARET E. WODLLEY. 

